Access to the UN
ICO has observer and consultative status to the United Nations ECOSOC. This allows us to internationally represent the communities we work with. We can field representatives at the UN in New York, Geneva and Vienna who participate in conferences and meetings of UN bodies, providing testimony, statements and expertise from reconciliation and peace-building perspectives, promoting non-violent alternatives in the fields of minority rights, and development.
The ICO General Assembly provides its members with the opportunity to have their voices heard through participating in key international mechanisms and raising their issues via United Nations submissions, particularly, but not exclusively, via the following three UN mechanisms:
The Human Rights Council holds at least three regular sessions each year (in March for four weeks, in June for three weeks, and in September for three weeks). Upon request of one third of the Member State, the Human Rights Council can decide at any time to hold a special session to address human rights violations and emergencies.
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a process that involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States. UPR provides an opportunity to address recommendations to states and focus international pressure to correct abuses and unjust practices.
Special Procedures mandate holders are
1) special rapporteurs,
2) independent experts,
3) working groups composed of five members who are appointed by the Council and who serve in their personal capacity.
The ICO General Assembly Process
Our team notifies General Assembly members of relevant upcoming opportunities at the UN to raise these issues at key mechanics and procedures, such as Universal Periodic Reviews (UPR), Human Rights Council sessions and calls for input from the office of the High Commissioner for human rights.
The ICO team of experts will then work with our members to collect and analyse data and evidence on key issue areas and create reports to submit and deliver at the UN. As well as highlighting these issues, the reports will also make recommendations to the UN and to the relevant member states to address them. ICO will then continue the joint advocacy efforts by working with member state governments, permanent missions and the United Nations to advocate for the implementation of the recommendations made in the reports.
ICO Submissions
UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW
ICO Submission for the Universal Periodic Review of Serbia
(43rd session of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review Working Group)
In this report ICO focuses on some of the main short-comings and concerns about key themes expanded on below: minority rights, right to freedom of opinion and expression, and equality and non-discrimination issues.
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Recommendations to Reduce the Risk of Human Rights Violations and to Ensure Safety of Tamils, Various Ethnicities and Religions in Sri Lanka
(Human Rights Council Fifty-first session)
In this written statement, we share our preliminary findings regarding the crisis in Sri Lanka, which has been perceived as a result of political and economic instability, as well as consequences of long-lasting ethnic violence and significant linguistic and religious divisions such as tensions between Sinhalese and Tamil communities.
COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
ICO's input by for the Agenda Item 6: Application of the principles of effective governance for sustainable development at the subnational level
(21st Session of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration)
The implementation of SDGs at local level has been challenged in several ways, we have identified that the main obstacles in implementing SDGs at the local level are the organisational factors that limits collaboration skills with non-state actors. ICO submitted the recommendations arrived at by our collaboration and communication in the following geographies: Jerusalem, Douala, and Mitrovica.